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Tornado Trap
Location: Harrison, Ohio Date: June 2, 1990 Story On the evening of June 2, 1990 the residents of Harrison, Ohio were settling down at the end of a long day when an EF4 tornado touched down. At the peak of the storm John Payne, his wife, Kathy, and his partner, Doug, all off duty firefighters and paramedics were in their homes watching the news when the warning siren went off. Doug and John evacuated everyone to the basement and Kathy called her mother, Judy, to get her and her two sisters, Jean and Dianne, out of her house. John left Kathy with the family and neighbors and he and Doug left for the station. At the station it was raining hard and it started to hail when first contact with the tornado was made. They saw the lightning and the funnel start to appear as it touched down. Rob Haynes was also called in and was the first to spot the tornado. "The wind was unbelievable and the rain started coming down real hard and off in the distance you could hear a rumble that sounded like a diesel train on a long hill and we saw a black column of black formation like a black cloud just moving across the south end of town and all I could think of was this is really happening." All the firefighters could do was wait as the tornado destroyed their town. Judy awoke Jean and Dianne and they started heading towards John's house. They thought is was another false alarm but they knew better when tree limbs started flying and they heard the sound of breaking glass. All they had for cover was a table as the tornado smashed out the windows and ripped off the roof. Within 35 minutes of the tornado touching down rescuers were dispatched from every town in a 20 mile radius with fire chief Allen Kenna leading the rescue. The tornado had destroyed their communications towers so all they had left was their CB radios and their old block style sat phones. John lead the local firefighters as they searched the rubble for his family. CBS Eyewitness News Cincinnati also sent a news van with Michael Benedict doing the reporting and operating the camera. The tornado destroyed 32 homes and damaged 900 in neighboring towns. Trees were uprooted and a power pole had fallen on a car. Rescuers could not get to one house because the power lines were down, there was arcing on the street, and some houses had reported gas leaks. Steel beams from businesses were thrown around like logs and twisted in some places. Michael walked up to one house and all that was left were two walls, a TV, two refrigerators, the tub, and the kitchen sink. The roof was torn clean off and tossed a mile away. Rob went to the remains of Judy's house and called out to them. Faintly they told him they were in the kitchen under the table. He called John at the command post and told him the bad news. His heart sank. Why would the tornado target their house? Rob and John then went to its remains. John asked Michael to point his camera light into there despite a warning from Michael that its batteries and light were dying and needed to be recharged. Jean was found with a beam on her back, and Judy and Dianne were found under the table with the front door and the roof on top of them. Paramedic Harry Henson checked their vitals and they were okay despite having numbness in their legs. Dianne was extracted first. She had to wait because Jean was blocking the way out. Judy was still trapped and it was up to John to get her out. They knew it was a matter of life and death. If they took out the rubble in 15 lifts it would take too long and Judy would be crushed by falling debris. The plan was to use airbags and the Jaws of Life Cutters as a wedge to make an opening so they could get her out. John and Harry went down first to calm her down as they worked the controls until the rubble moved wide enough for them to get her out. Rob said the plan worked and all their efforts paid off this is what they trained for. John said a rescuer's worst fear is having to rescue their own family when a disaster hits. Harrison was completely destroyed by the tornado. There were no deaths but 37 people were injured including Judy, Jean, and Dianne. One month later the Messinas and all of Harrison pitched in to rebuild their town to make it stronger. Jean was left with a broken back but it could have been worse much worse and they would not have this story to tell. It was her and the quick action of the rescuers who saved them from being crushed that night. The first thing to be done was razing all the brick and frame houses and the cities trailer park and new foundations were excavated down to ground level and new basements dug so they would never have to go through this ever again. Category:1990 Category:Ohio Category:Entrapment